Question 8.27

8.27 Measuring crime. Crime data make headlines. We measure the amount of crime by the number of crimes committed or (better) by crime rates (crimes per 100,000 population). The FBI publishes data on crime in the United States by compiling crimes reported to police departments. The FBI data are recorded in the Uniform Crime Reporting Program and are based on reports from more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States. The National Crime Victimization Survey publishes data about crimes based on a national probability sample of about 90,000 households per year. The victim survey shows almost two times as many crimes as the FBI report. Explain why the FBI report has a large downward bias for many types of crime. (Here is a case in which bias in producing data leads to bias in measurement.)